The plight of Moroccans stranded in Algeria should continue for a while pending the goodwill of the Algerian authorities. The latter maintained the decision to keep the sea and land air borders closed due to the exponentially increasing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which they are unable to contain.
Yesterday Wednesday, Algeria recorded a new record of contaminations with 365 new cases confirmed in 24 hours, according to the Algerian Ministry of Health. In the meantime and for more than four months, thousands of Moroccans have found themselves stranded in difficult conditions in Algeria without the possibility of returning to the motherland after the decision taken on Sunday by Abdelmadjid Tebboune to maintain the closed Algerian borders indefinitely.
There are around three thousand compatriots trapped in this country, the majority of whom work in the construction, decoration (plasterers) and agriculture sectors. Mustapha Ouali, a Moroccan trapped in Algeria, confirmed to Hespress that ” Moroccans experience ordeal and are no longer able to withstand the pressure of this situation more ” Moroccans trapped in Algeria are all the more worried that the coronavirus is wreaking havoc on our neighbor to the east. So given this state of facts they hope that we organize their return as soon as possible, knowing in this that Morocco is moving towards a total lifting of the state of emergency. ” The Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc has already repatriated hundreds of Moroccans who were stranded in Algeria, and we welcome this exceptional process initiated by the Moroccan authorities. ” Yesterday Wednesday two RAM planes from Istanbul in Turkey again brought some 300 Moroccans to Marrakech Menara airport as part of the repatriation operations of Moroccans stranded around the world.
While most countries are reopening their borders, including those in the Maghreb region like Tunisia or close to us like the EU member states, Algeria has decided to keep the borders closed until further notice and ” better control of the pandemic situation Without determining any date. This makes the repatriation process more complex for the Moroccan authorities, who each time have to negotiate slots with the Algerian executive, who often do not care about the fate of our compatriots except that of its own citizens.
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